The Monthly Mela organized on April 19-20 had an interesting difference – a focus on career opportunities for vulnerable and marginalized youth. Other NGOs working for street children in Mumbai were also invited to participate in this event. During the Mela, speakers from different organizations made presentations on possible careers that these children could work towards. The speakers included Mr. Khamkar from Shramik Vidhyapeeth, Mr. Royal D’Souza from St. Joseph’s ITI Kurla, and Ms. Rajana Jadhav from Project Ministry. These resource persons provided the NGO staff and children with plenty of valuable information on different skills training courses and related employment opportunities. The active participation of the children during these sessions proved their keen interest in building a good career for themselves. Ultimately, it is productive employment that will transform the ‘street children’ into ‘good citizens’.

Fr. Barnabe D'Souza of Shelter Don Bosco, Mumbai, presented a paper on "Children's Vulnerablitiy, Insitutional Dependency and Reintegration: A Dialectical Cultural Response". In it he focused on the challenges of institutionalization, its high cost, dependency and service delivery limitations. In exploring alternate care systems, the researched ‘evidence base’ of urban community projects by Shelter Don Bosco in Mumbai, indicated the critical role of participation of all stakeholders. The community care paradigm, for example, shifts the responsibility of child care and education to the family and community rather than creating a dependency on the facilitating agency. These measures are sustainable and promote a preventive ideology. This presentation led to an animated discussion on the uniqueness of the Indian situation and the strategies used to respond to the situation.

Launched in September 2007 this unique process has involved 9 regions from all over the world, led by Regional Lead Organizations ( Shelter Don Bosco is one of the RLOs) NGO representatives from 140 countries. During the assembly held from March 10 to 14, 2008, at the Vienna International Centre, headquarters of the UNODC, United Nations, Vienna, Austria, each RLO made a presentation. Fr. Barnabe D’Souza made the presentation on behalf of the South Asia region and answered questions thereafter from the delegates of the various regions of the world on the situation of drugs and human rights issues in the South Asian region countries. One of the points stressed in the presentation was the increased use of pharmaceutical drugs, the keen interest in Afghanistan vis-à-vis the production of opium in the region, other gateway drugs and human rights issues too were discussed. The similarity in concerns and commonality of issues on the drug problem was highlighted.

The Vienna NGO Committee on Narcotic Drugs (VNGOC) that provides a vital link between NGOs, the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) and UNODC, nominated Shelter Don Bosco, Mumbai, India along with two other NGOs from the region as Regional Lead Organization (RLOs) for South Asia. The three organizations were selected based on their significant presence and vast experience in the region. The RLOs were assigned the task of coordinating the Consultation for the South Asian region. In addition, Shelter Don Bosco was responsible for selecting and inviting representatives among the 100 plus Asian NGOs for the consultation meeting at Dhaka.